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This is a project you wanna keep an eye on for sure!!! I'm fortunate enough to live close to Don and have just been reaquainted after 15 years or so since I'm back in it and learning again while I tear mine apart. Don has been a great help to me and his vega knowledge is extensive to say the least. To see this ride in person and get to see the fabrication That Don does is amazing!!! Can't wait to hear this thing rumble!!! THANKS Don!!!!

Defff going to follow along with this thread because this is what I want to do to my 74 GT. I love what your doing great work keep it up.

Looks like 1/8 Or 3/16 wall ?

Just read this entire thread, and wondering what has happened with this cool little car. Is it still being worked on, running, Etc.? Awesome build, nicely done sir!

Its still alive and well, still working on it at a snails pace. I will update the build journal soon, just been really busy with other things.

Where are you megavega?

wow, time flys....Life kinda got in the way but now its being kind again. Wife had some cancer so we had to take a little journey together to get her good again,(shes doin great now!). In the mean time, I bought a lot of stuff to add to the car, so I will have plenty to upgrade now. I got the car on the lift and will begin the rest of putting it together. I also got the block all ready to assemble the engine, new cam bearings, honed,new main studs, and will assemble as soon as the rotating assembly comes back from balancing. Steel crank, aftermarket h beam rods, forged pistons. I am getting anxious to finally make it run and move, been a long time comin.... Watch for rear disc upgrade and finalize rear end set up next with pics!

(yes, some of you will notice my 67 chevy II in the background, I picked it up last year and have been spending a couple bucks on it as well, but the vega needs to get done before any major fabbing on the deuce is taking place. Bought a aftermarket front frame with mustang 2 suspension, 871 blower set up and some new fenders so far. kinda weird when everything just bolts on with no fab work, not like a vega....lol)

Glad all is well with the family!!! now get busy!!! lol,, you have waaaaay to many toys:th:

Tore apart the s10 rear end I have under the car, installed a auburn posi unit, 28 spline axles and a disc brake conversion kit. 28 spline axles are quite a bit beefier units then the 26 splines, they are like .185" thicker in the middle and should hold up well. There is a little bit of fab work to install a disc kit on a 7.5 rear end housing as the ends are goofy and only use 3 bolts, so I marked it out, cut off the top ear and will drill 4 new 1/4" holes for the aftermarket brackets to bolt up. The rear disc kit is a 11.25" diameter rotor and they have a e-brake, which I figured I surely needed with a 6 speed stick shift in the car.



why do the pics show up sideways???

Got the rear coil over conversion done and the rear disc brake kit put on. I am gonna finish weld the brackets I made when I remove the rearend to paint it. The upper brackets will be stitch welded to the floor on 3 sides. I will have to see what spring rate I end up with since I tilted the coilovers at 25 degrees, it will need a stronger rear spring rate because of the tilt. Finally getting it almost ready to put back on ground and finish the headers.

I really like the coil over conversion!! well done,, you can tell this isn't your first rodeo

Good to see progress on this car what rate coil spring are you thinking about using? Have you weighed the car?

I have 250 lb springs on mine and its really stiff. So far I am keeping them because I really like the way my car handles
but you may want to go lower than what I have.

I would be tempted to get 175lb or 200 lb if I made a switch.

The coil overs have 100# springs on them as they came from my friends drag car. I am pretty sure they will be too light of a spring, especially with a 25 degree tilt. I will have to weigh the car when I get done to see where I am at. I cant even set it on the ground yet as I am waiting for my new valve stems to arrive from evilbay to mount the rear tires. I ended up getting different backspace wheels so the rear disc conversion would fit and not require me to machine the rear of the other 17x8 wheels for the rotor hat thickness. I removed the wheel well braces to make room for the rear calipers to move up and down in the wheel well, the rotors pushed the other original 17x8 wheels out a bit and would of interfered with fenderlip and I want to run the car low, with tire well up above and inside the quarterpanel lip. So, I machined off .085" off the rotor hat face but was still too thick with previous wheels and fenderlip clearance. I found a set of wheels on evilbay with the perfect backspace, It was splitting hairs on the amount(.128"), but it will keep the tires from rubbing both the inside of the wheel well and the fenderlip, its exactly centered side to side now in the wheel well. I will keep your spring numbers in mind and work from there, thanks for info on your rear springs.

megavega wrote:The coil overs have 100# springs on them as they came from my friends drag car. I am pretty sure they will be too light of a spring, especially with a 25 degree tilt. I will have to weigh the car when I get done to see where I am at. I cant even set it on the ground yet as I am waiting for my new valve stems to arrive from evilbay to mount the rear tires. I ended up getting different backspace wheels so the rear disc conversion would fit and not require me to machine the rear of the other 17x8 wheels for the rotor hat thickness. I removed the wheel well braces to make room for the rear calipers to move up and down in the wheel well, the rotors pushed the other original 17x8 wheels out a bit and would of interfered with fenderlip and I want to run the car low, with tire well up above and inside the quarterpanel lip. So, I machined off .085" off the rotor hat face but was still too thick with previous wheels and fenderlip clearance. I found a set of wheels on evilbay with the perfect backspace, It was splitting hairs on the amount(.128"), but it will keep the tires from rubbing both the inside of the wheel well and the fenderlip, its exactly centered side to side now in the wheel well. I will keep your spring numbers in mind and work from there, thanks for info on your rear springs.

sounds like a lot of work going on. i used a four wheel drive S10 rear axle to avoid the brake caliper interference issue. this allowed me to use 8.5 inch wheel and 265/35 tire. backspacing is 6 5/8" if i recall right

ok, all done and back on the ground, it worked out really well. I got the front tires changed as well as I had to drop one size so they wouldn't hit the front leading edge of the fender when turning fully, they clear nicely now. rear tires are exactly centered in the wheel well now, you cant put any more width up under those fenderlips! I am glad I did the rear suspension set up and rims like this, it made it all fit perfect now. Car has a nice 1.25" rake from front to back and its very simple to adjust the ride height with the rear coil overs. I have 100lb springs on now and they are cranked up almost halfway and pretty stiff, so likely will need something like before mentioned 150-175lb and then not have to preload so much. Now... back to finishing the headers for the turbos, once that's done I can take out dummy motor and finish up firewall welds and tunnel welds. Should nt be long now!